The Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday halted trading for the second time in its history after a surge in orders overloaded its computer systems.
The world's second-largest exchange, where 1.7 trillion yen ($14.7 billion) of stocks changed hands every day last year, will stop trading of all securities at 1440 hrs local time, 20 minutes before the scheduled close.
The exchange is likely to shorten trading hours on Thursday to prevent its system from being overwhelmed with orders.
The exchange halted all trading for the first time on November 1 because of an error triggered by a systems upgrade carried out in October.
The exchange's website said:
The number of orders and executions at Tokyo Stock Exchange has seen a sharp increase today, and the number of executions may possibly exceed the ability of the system to process them all. We deeply apologize for the great inconvenience that this has caused for all investors and concerned parties.
The number of orders and executions as of 14:25 Japan Standard Time is as below:
Orders: 7,000,000
Executions: 4,000,000
Therefore, as previously stated, Tokyo Stock Exchange will suspend trading of all equity, convertible bond, and exchange bond issues at 14:40 until the end of the day, based on Article 29.4 of the Business Regulations of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
© 2025